Termite bait apparatus having grooves

ABSTRACT

The invention provides a method and apparatus for controlling termites. The invention provides a more attractive and durable termite bait by providing a thin flat block of wood with grooves and impregnating the surface of the wood with a slow acting toxicant.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the control of termites andother social insects. In particular, the present invention relates tothe control of such insects using an apparatus containing baitimpregnated with a slow acting toxicant. For a discussion of socialinsects, see generally U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,992. That patent isincorporated by reference herein to the extent it discusses socialinsects and their habits.

In the prior art, various techniques of spraying fast actinginsecticides in a structure are used to eliminate social insects such astermites in the structure. For eliminating social insects in the groundinstruments with cardboard or sawdust bait were used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus and method foreliminating social insects such as termites in a structure.

It is another object of the invention to provide an apparatus and methodfor eliminating social insects in the ground.

The invention provides a method and apparatus for providing a moreattractive and durable termite bait, which comprises a thin flat blockof wood with grooves.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the inventivetermite bait.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a bait station, which utilizes theinventive termite bait.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the use of the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of another preferred embodiment of a baitstation.

FIG. 5 is another embodiment of the invention for use in a tubularstation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the inventivetermite bait 10, formed by a block of wood 11, which is thin, flat andrectangular. Some possible woods which may form the termite bait arespruce, pine and fir. A plurality of parallel grooves 13 are cut alongone or more sides of the block of wood 11. The length of the grooveextends from one end of the block of wood to the other end of the blockof wood, as shown. It is preferable that the width of the groove is 1/8inch, which is approximately 3.175 mm. The depth of the grooves go atleast half way through the block of wood 11. The grooves may be as wideas one inch in width (25.4 mm) or as narrow as 1/32 inch (0.794 mm) inwidth. In this embodiment the grooves 13 are on one side of the block ofwood 11. The grooves 13 may be on all six sides of the rectangular blockof wood 11.

The surface of the block of wood 11 is treated with a slow actingtoxicant. The amount of toxicant needed to control termites will vary,depending on the particular toxicant used, but in general an amountbetween about 1 and about 5,000 parts per million (ppm) of toxicant tobait may be utilized. For example, if sulfluramid is the toxicant, anamount between about 10 and about 200 ppm may be used, preferablybetween about 50 and about 100 ppm, and if abamectin is the toxicant, anamount between about 10 and about 200 ppm may be used, preferablybetween about 50 and about 100 ppm.

In FIG. 2 an outdoor station 50 has an outer box 51, comprising the body52, and a top cover 53. The body 52 has a plurality of apertures 60which extend along the side of the body 52. The body 52 has a pluralityof screw holes 61. The top cover 53, which extends along the length andthickness of the outer box 51 has a plurality of screw holes 65, whichmate with the screw holes 61 of the body 52. A plurality of screws 66are provided to pass through the screw holes 65 of the top cover 53 andscrew into the screw holes 61 of the body 52.

A bait holder 70 also has a box shape, and is small enough to fit intothe outer box 51. The bait holder 70 has a plurality of apertures 72.The inventive bait 10 is placed in the bait holder 70. The bait 10 has alength 55, width 56, and thickness 57, wherein the length 55 is at leastsix times the thickness 57, and wherein the width 56 is at least fivetimes the thickness 57. The bait 10 is attached to an identical bate 10'by blocks of double sided adhesive spacers 39. The bait holder 70 has aplurality of foldable tabs 67 to allow easier removal of the bait holder70 from the body 52. Other means may be provided to facilitate theremoval of the bait holder 70 from the body 52.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a plurality of the outdoorstations in operation. Adjacent to a structure 77, there may be areasthat have a higher chance of attracting termites, such as near a watersource such as a faucet 78. A U-shaped trench is made around the area ofthe faucet 78 and three bodies 52 of outer boxes 51 are placed in thetrenches. A bait holder 70 (FIG. 2) is then placed in each body 52 of anouter box 51. A top cover 53 is then secured to each body 52 by thescrews 66. On a periodic basis, possibly every six months, the screws 66are removed, the bait holder 70 is also removed and inspected. If theinventive bait 10 is intact, the bait holder 70 is put back in the body52 and the top cover 53 is resecured. If the inventive bait 10 needsreplacing, a new bait holder 70 with new bait 10 is placed in the body52. The periodic inspection allows the monitoring for termites.

The slow acting toxicant in the bait 10 allows for the control of anentire colony. The high surface area to volume ratio of the bait 10, dueto the ratio between the length 55, width 56, and thickness 57 allowsfor a large surface area which protects against termites and provides alarge surface area for the slow acting toxicant. The grooves 13 increasethe attractiveness of the bait 10 to termites and the attractive surfacearea. This is because it is easier for termites to tube over suchgrooves 13. The use of wood is also preferable to the prior artcardboard in that wood is more durable and thus lasts longer.

In another method of operation, the outer box 51 may be laid flat on theground and covered with mulch.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of a termite station 30 usinganother embodiment of the termite bait 36. The bait station 30 has anouter cover 31, comprising a tinted transparent plastic top cover 32, anopaque plastic bottom cover 33, and an opaque side cage 34 between thetop cover 32 and bottom cover 33 and around the outer edges of the topcover 32 and the bottom cover 33. The outer cover 31, forms a flat boxshape, with the top cover 32 forming a side of the flat box with thegreatest area, and the bottom cover 33 forming the other side of theflat box with the greatest area, and the side cage 34 forming the foursides of the flat box with the smallest areas. Between the top cover 32and the bottom cover 33 and within the perimeter formed by the side cage34 is the inventive bait 36 impregnated with a slow acting toxicant suchas sulfluramid. The side cage 34 is welded to the bottom cover 33.

The top cover 32 has a plurality of top cover screw holes 37. The bait36 has a plurality of screw holes 38, which mate with the top coverscrew holes 37. A plurality of spacers 39 are provided, with a spacer 39in each bait screw hole 38. The bottom cover 33 has a plurality ofbottom cover screw holes 40, which mate with the bait screw holes 38. Aplurality of screws 41 are provided with a screw 41 passing through atop cover screw hole 37 and its mating bait screw hole 38, and itsmating bottom cover screw hole 40. As the screw 41 passes through thebait screw hole 38 it also passes through a spacer 39. The screws 41provide a means for mounting the bait station 30 to a wall of astructure. The screws 41 also secure the top cover 32 to the bottomcover 33 so that the edges of the top cover 32 press against the sidecage 34 forming the outer cover 31 and making the outer cover 31 tamperresistant. The heads of the screws 41 are square socket heads.

The bottom cover 33 has a plurality of bottom cover apertures 43 in theshape of slots. Side apertures 44 are formed at the junction where theside cage 34 and the bottom cover 33 meet. The bottom cover apertures 43and the side apertures 44 are small enough to prevent children fromtouching the bait 36, thus helping to make the 30 bait station 30 tamperresistant.

The bait 36 comprises three sheets of wood 45. Each sheet of wood 45 hasa first set of parallel grooves 46 and a second set of parallel grooves47 which are perpendicular to the first set of parallel grooves 46. Thefirst and second set of parallel grooves 46, 47 are formed on one ormore sides of each sheet 45. The first and second set of parallelgrooves have a width of approximately 1/8 inch. A central aperture 48allows termites to pass to different layers of the sheets 45.

The operation of this bait station 30 is the similar to the bait station50 above, but is adapted to be mounted on the walls of a structure. Thetinted transparent plastic top cover 32 allows inspection of the bait 36without removing the bait station 30.

By using a plurality of thin sheets of wood 45 for the bait 36, thesurface area to volume ratio is increased, making the bait 36 moreattractive to termites and providing a higher ratio of slow actingtoxicant to volume of bait 36. Providing a first set and second set ofgrooves 46, 47 in different directions, also increases theattractiveness of the bait 36 to termites, when it is unknown as towhich direction the termites will be approaching the bait 36.

FIG. 5 illustrates a bait 81 for use in a linear bait station 82. Thelinear station 82 used in this example is cylindrical. For this reasonthe bait 81 is a rectangular block of wood 83, with grooves 84 on thesides of the block of wood 83 extending along the length of the block ofwood 83. A cap 85 is used to hold the bait 81 in the linear station 82.An aperture 87 is drilled in the center of the block of wood 83 toremove some of the bulk of the wood.

Other embodiments of the inventive bait may be used in other termitetraps. In other embodiments the block of wood may be formed using othertypes of wood to attract different types of termites. Pine would be usedfor one type of termite and oak may be used for another type of termite.Wood particles may be pressed together to form a solid block, whichwould be the block of wood. Another embodiment when providing grooves onopposite sides of a block of wood, could stagger the grooves from oneside to the other.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed herein, it will be appreciated that various changes andmodifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit ofthe invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for controlling termites,comprising:a block of wood, with a surface, wherein a plurality ofgrooves extend across a surface of the block of wood; a slow actingtoxicant impregnating the surface of the block of wood.
 2. Theapparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the grooves are between athirty-secondth of an inch to one inch in width and wherein a first setof at least three of the plurality of grooves are parallel.
 3. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein a second set of at least threeof the plurality of grooves are perpendicular to the first set.
 4. Theapparatus, as claimed in claim 2, wherein the block of wood has alength, a width and a thickness, wherein the length of the block of woodis at least six times the thickness of the block of wood.
 5. Theapparatus, as claimed in claim 4, further comprising, an outer coversurrounding the bait, wherein the outer cover has a plurality ofapertures.
 6. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 5, wherein the slowacting toxicant kills a termite in a time period between 96 hours and720 hours after ingestion of a termiticidally effective amount of thetoxicant by the termite.
 7. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 6,wherein the slow acting toxicant is selected from the group consistingof: boric acid, borate, hydramethylnon, macrolide antibiotics, insectgrowth regulators, biological agents, protozoacides, termiticides, andslow acting poisons.
 8. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 7, whereinthe slow acting toxicant is selected from the group consisting ofsulfluramid abamectin, hydramethylnon, hexaflumuron, spinosyn A,spinosyn D and mixtures thereof.
 9. The apparatus, as claimed in claim8, further comprising a means for mounting the outer cover on a wall ofa structure.
 10. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slowacting toxicant kills a termite in a time period between 96 hours and720 hours after ingestion of a termiticidally effective amount of thetoxicant by the termite.
 11. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 10,wherein the slow acting toxicant is selected from the group consistingof: boric acid, borate, hydramethylnon, macrolide antibiotics, insectgrowth regulators, biological agents, protozoacides, termiticides, andslow acting poisons.
 12. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 11, whereinthe slow acting toxicant is selected from the group consisting ofsulfluramid abamectin, hydramethylnon, hexaflumuron, spinosyn A,spinosyn D and mixtures thereof.
 13. The apparatus, as claimed in claim12, further comprising, an outer cover surrounding the bait, wherein theouter cover has a plurality of apertures.
 14. The apparatus, as claimedin claim 13, further comprising a means for mounting the outer cover ona wall.
 15. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the groovesare approximately one eighth of an inch in width and wherein a first setof at least three of the plurality of grooves are parallel.
 16. A methodfor controlling termites in a structure with a known location for activetermite activity, comprising the steps of:locating an active termitetube in the structure; and placing an apparatus of claim 5 adjacent tothe active termite tube.
 17. The method, as claimed in claim 16, furthercomprising the step of mounting the outer cover on a wall of thestructure.
 18. A method for controlling termites in the ground,comprising the steps of:digging a substantially linear trench; placing abody of an outer box with a length, width and thickness, into thetrench, and wherein the length of the outer box is placed along thelength of the trench and the width of the box is placed along the heightof the trench; placing the apparatus as recited in claim 1 in the outerbox; and securing a cover over the body of the outer box.